During the golden age of motorcycling, the Brits made a stand with a breed of motorcycle that would become an icon of speed and beauty: the Cafe Racer. Young men with a desire for speed, and the willingness to exploit every possible drop of power, started stripping and tuning their English road bikes, racing at very high speeds from coffee shop to coffee shop across the English countryside. They were fueled by pop music and leaded petrol, spawning a culture that would pass the test of time and influence the future of motorcycle design. 

The racer lives on.

Today, the cafe racer maintains a deep-rooted, passionate following, encompassing, in style and attitude, the soul of those early British Marquees and the leather-clad hooligans who earned the name “Rocker.” (A term rooted in Britain’s 1960s’ counter-culturists, the Rockers.)

Rainer Budnik of Henrichenburg, Germany, shares the spirit launched in the early ’60s. But instead of taking a vintage platform and restoring the past, Rainer preferred a more modern interpretation. Starting with a 1999 Triumph Daytona 955i, the cafe project was set with a classic British namesake.